How the Space Needle Came to Be

          “Class, I have some exciting news! Next week we will be going on a field trip to the beach to learn about sea life!” exclaimed Miss White to her keen class.

          “Yay!” cried the over-enthusiastic class. They started chattering about the field trip as soon as Miss White announced it.

Miss White was pleased that her kindergarten class was so happy to go on the field trip. She ushered the children back to their tables and handed out the permission slips to go. Then she answered questions, and soon, it was time to go home.

“Bye, children, have a good weekend! Bye!” she called to the children as they strode out the door. Miss White sank in to her squishy/soft chair at her desk. She graded papers, answered e-mails from parents and wrote in her calendar for the coming week.

Then she drove back to her comfy home to settle in and look at the pictures her class drew during free time. Tomorrow, I will go to the beach and check it out, thought Miss White as she went to bed, yawning generously. And then she drifted off to sleep noiselessly.

The next day, Miss White awoke to a fresh start. She had definitely woken up on the right side of the bed. She made French toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and then dressed to go to the beach. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining like it usually did in cloudy Seattle.

Miss White drove through the fog into wonderful rays of sunshine that beat down on her car. She smiled, for it had been days since it was sunny. Miss White drove down the steep slope past Mukilteo Elementary, where she taught kindergarten. 

There was a sign that said:

Miss White drove down farther and she finally reached Mukilteo Lighthouse & Ferry beach. She climbed out of her car and sucked in the salty ocean air. But there was something wrong with it. Miss White had smelled ocean air many times before, but it had never smelled like this. She was surprised. It almost smelled like concrete and gasoline. Miss White frowned, and then went to investigate.

She walked past the billboard and a bunch of teens playing volley ball in the sand. And there in the field where children played and ate, was a gigantic hole! Miss White gasped. Trucks were coming in, dumping liquid concrete in to it, and then leaving to get more.

Miss White went up to one of the truck drivers and asked what they were doing.

“Ma’am, we are building the foundation for what will be the tallest thing west of the Mississippi River! It is gonna be the tallest skyscraper you will have ever seen! Trust me; you will definitely wanna see this after it’s done next week. ‘The Man’ calls it the ‘Space Needle’.” said the bulky man to Miss White with a toothy smile. Miss White thanked him and went away to sit on a bench and sort out her thoughts.

She was planning for her class to eat lunch on the field, but that was entirely out of the question. And she certainly didn’t want her students to come to the beach and be more interested in the skyscraper than sea life. She had to do something about it before Wednesday, the day of the field trip.

Then she remembered something. The man she had talked to said something about a guy called “The Man”. Miss White wondered who that could be. She went up to ask one of the men and they said it was their manager, Mr. Walter Rich. Apparently, he was a very wealthy man.

So, Miss White went home and looked up “Walter Rich” in her Yellowpages book. He was in it and she got his address and phone number. Miss White called him up and made an appointment with him for that afternoon, but was careful not to say why.

That afternoon she drove up to the place where Mr. Rich had promised to meet her. It was a big empty lot with patches of grass here and there. Miss White thought it was horrid. Then she had an idea. Mr. Rich could build the Space Needle here!  It would become a popular tourist destination, the best in Washington State!

Just as Miss White was making plans, a glossy, jet black limo drove up. It was really long and it stopped when the middle was what was facing Miss White. The window rolled down and a handsome man that looked a little older that Miss White appeared. He had sunglasses on and his hair stood straight and stiff.

“Are you Miss White, ma’am? Why don’t we go for a ride?” said Mr. Rich. Miss White stepped inside the limo silently and took a seat. The inside of the limo was dimmed so the sun didn’t get in your eyes. There was a built in cooler with sodas in it next to Miss White. She was thirsty and eyed to cooler warily, but she didn’t say anything.

“Take one, Miss White; my treat,” said Mr. Rich, reading Miss White’s eyes. She took a Coca-Cola from the cooler, opened it with a pop, and savored a tiny sip of it.

“Hello, Mr. Rich. Nice to meet you,” Miss White finally built up the courage to speak and held out her hand to Mr. Rich. He shook her hand.

“So, Miss White, why have you called me here today?” questioned Mr. Rich. And so Miss White started her explanation of her upcoming field trip, Mr. Rich’s men telling her about the Space Needle, and everything else. Mr. Rich listened quietly, at times looking thoughtful.

“And so, I’ve been thinking that you could move the Space Needle to the place where you promised to meet me today. It is a hideous place, and it would be good if somebody fixed it up and put something nice there instead of leaving it to rot. Leave the beach. It’s almost the only thing that is actually perfect in our world,” Miss White finished her speech. Mr. Rich was dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief and he said “That was very touching, Miss White. The ocean should be left alone,” Mr. Rich sat up straight.

“I will order my workers to change sites immediately,” Mr. Rich whisked out his note-pad to make a note to tell his workers to change sites without saying another word. They arrived at the lot and Miss White stepped out of the limo and waved to Mr. Rich as the limo drove away. Then Miss White drove home, satisfied with her speech.

The next day, Miss White went to the ocean to check if Mr. Rich had betrayed her. He hadn’t. The giant hole was covered with dirt and fertilizer.

Miss White was content. She walked over to one of the park benches and read her book, enjoying the delightful rays of sunshine that sparkled in the ocean.